Social Influence

Question 1

State the steps of social change to minority influence

Answer 1

1. Draw attention to the issue
2. Cognitive conflict
3. Consistency of position
4. The augmentation principle
5. The snowball effect
   (6. Social cryptomnesia)

Question 2

Explain “ drawing the attention to the issue”

Answer 2

Minorities need to make the majority aware of the issue through various means; political, educational and militant

Question 3

Explain “cognitive conflict”

Answer 3

The minority causes the majority to think about the issue by challenging their view. Some people will simply dismiss the minority view, others will move towards the minority position.

Question 4

Explain “consistency of position”

Answer 4

The minority is most effective if the members are consistent in their argument, both over time & with each other

Question 5

Explain the “augmentation principle”

Answer 5

Suffering for a cause makes people seem more committed to it, therefor strengthening (augments) the argument

Question 6

Explain “the snowball effect”

Answer 6

Minority influence starts small, but begins to spread until it reaches a tipping point where the minority view becomes the majority view

Question 7

Explain “social cryptomnesia”

Answer 7

A cognitive bias experienced by whole cultures following social change. Dissociating the accomplishments of the minority from the minority

Question 8

Give examples of social change

Answer 8

1. Suffragette movement
2. LGBTQ+ marriage rights
3. Abolition of slavery

Question 9

Give an example of social cryptomnesia

Answer 9

When somebody believes that the suffragettes were pretentious man-haters, but that women should have the right to vote

Question 10

Explain consistency in relation to minority influence

Answer 10

Consistency is when the minority does not change their viewpoint forcing the majority to rethink their views. This consistency can be synchronic (between the group) or diachronic ( over time)

Question 11

Explain flexibility in relation to minority influence

Answer 11

If the minority is too rigid and unwilling to compromise the majority will find it off putting. Minorities must be consistent but open to discussion

Question 12

Explain flexibility in relation to minority influence

Answer 12

When a minority sticks to its views despite negative reactions and suffering, this impresses the majority and shows the importance of this viewpoint. (Links to the augmentation principle)

Question 13

What was the name of Philip Zimbardo’s experiment

Answer 13

Stanford prison experiment

Question 14

What type of conformity does the SPE show

Answer 14

Internalisation

Question 15

explain locus of control

Answer 15

1. if a person has an external locus of control they believe behaviour is caused by outside factors eg, fate.
2. if a person has an internal locus of control they believe behaviour is caused by our own decisions and efforts

Question 16

whose theory is “locus of control” (give date)

Answer 16

Rotter- 1996

Question 17

define social support

Answer 17

The perception that we have a assistance or backing from other people

Question 18

Explain how social support helps resistance to conformity

Answer 18

1. social support break unanimity

2. disobedient person can act as a role model

Question 19

state 3 factors that affect obedience

Answer 19

1. Proximity
2. Uniform
3. Location

Question 20

state the BPS ethical guidelines

Answer 20

1. Informed consent
2. Right to withdraw
3. Deception
4. Risk
5. Confidentiality
6. Debrief

Question 21

how did location affect Milgram’s experiment

Answer 21

Obedience dropped when the study was moved away from the prestigious Yale University

Question 22

how did proximity affect Milgram’s experiment

Answer 22

When the learner was in the same room as the teacher, obedience dropped to 40%. When the teacher had to hold the learner’s hand onto an electric plate, this dropped to 30%

Question 23

how did uniform affect Milgram’s experiment

Answer 23

When the lab-coat wearing experimenter was replaced by somebody in ordinary clothes, obedience dropped to 20%

Question 24

state 3 examples of minority influence

Answer 24

1. suffragettes
2. LGBTQ+ rights
3. Abolition of slavery

Question 25

Define internalisation

Answer 25

permanently adopting the behaviours or attitudes of the group, both publicly and privately, because we have come to see this as the right way to be

Question 26

Define identification

Answer 26

Changing your attitudes or behaviour to conform to a particular role. The change will last as long as the person identifies with that role.

Question 27

Define compliance

Answer 27

Changing our public attitudes or behaviour only when the majority group is present, without any private change in behaviour

Question 28

Define normative social influence

Answer 28

Normative influence occurs when we adjust our public behaviour or opinions in order to gain the approval of our social group.

Question 29

Define informational social influence

Answer 29

Informational influence occurs when we have doubts | about our own perception or understanding of a situation, so we look to others to guide us.

Question 30

what were Asch's findings

Answer 30

Over 12 critical trials the overall rate of conformity was 33%

Question 31

how did Asch know it was conformity that made the participants give the wrong answers

Answer 31

1. control group made less than 1% errors 2. In interviews afterwards, most participants said that they knew they were giving a wrong answer

Question 32

state the variations on Asch's experiment/ The variables that affect conformity

Answer 32

1. group size 2. unanimity 3. difficulty of task

Question 33

explain group size in relation to Asch's experiment

Answer 33

The size of the majority has an effect with up to three people, but any more people after three won’t make any more difference.

Question 34

explain unanimity in relation to Asch's experiment

Answer 34

It is important that the majority is united. If | one of the confederates in the group gave the correct answer instead, then this greatly lowered the rate of conformity.

Question 35

explain difficulty in relation to Asch's experiment

Answer 35

People are more likely to conform when they | are unsure of the correct answer, so if a task is difficult then rates of conformity will increase

Question 36

evaluate Asch's experiment (date)

Answer 36

1950s was a particularly conformist era. Later replications have shown much lower rates of conformity

Question 37

evaluate Asch's experiment (culture)

Answer 37

individualist cultures (Europe/US) have lower rates of conformity than collectivist cultures (Africa/Asia) where conformity is encouraged

Question 38

evaluate Asch's experiment (statistics)

Answer 38

33% conformity- most of the time people did not conform, and 25% did not conform at all, so the study actually shows more independent behaviour than conformity

Question 39

state 2 ethical issues with zimbardo's experiment

Answer 39

1. lack of fully informed consent by participants- The prisoners did not consent to being 'arrested' at home 2. Participants playing the role of prisoners were not protected from psychological harm, experiencing incidents of humiliation and distress.

Question 40

explain demand characteristics in relation to Zimbardo

Answer 40

Most of the guards later claimed they were simply acting. Because the guards and prisoners were playing a role, their behaviour may not be influenced by the same factors which affect behaviour in real life.

Question 41

define agentic state

Answer 41

believing we have no personal responsibility because we are acting for an authority figure

Question 42

define agentic shift

Answer 42

when we recognise someone as having authority, so | we change from an autonomous to an agentic state

Question 43

what are binding factors

Answer 43

the reasons people stay in an agentic state eg. sense | of commitment, fear of consequences, politeness, denying how bad their actions are

Question 44

define legitimate authority

Answer 44

A legitimate authority is someone who appears to fit our expectations of who should be in charge

Question 45

define authoritarian personality

Answer 45

People with authoritarian personalities have traditional values and a rigid sense of hierarchy, are prejudiced against other races, and see things in a black-and-white way

Question 46

what did Milgram & Elms do in 1966

Answer 46

Interviewed 40 participants from Milgram's original studies to find out if Adorno's F-scale was correct

Question 47

Are authoritarian personalities more or less likely to administer the 450v shock

Answer 47

More likely

Question 48

how does social support help us resist pressure

Answer 48

social support breaks the unanimity

Question 49

state (the basics) of Moscovici et al experiment and the results

Answer 49

(4 participants, 2 confederates blue slides that confederates called green) if confederates were consistent participants were more likely to call them green than if the confederates were inconsistent

Question 50

Agentic state or cruelty... Evaluate

Answer 50

Whilst Agentic shift is one explanation for obedience in the STE, another is that it was due to a fundamental desire to inflict harm to others. An opportunity seized in the STE

Question 51

social context or personality... Evaluate

Answer 51

Milgram showed that situational factors were the primary cause of differences in participants obedience levels

Question 52

Rees, Wallace and social influence

Answer 52

Rees and Wallace showed that social support plays an important role in the resistance to social influence, in a study that showed that people were able to resist pressures to consume alcohol if another non-drinker was present